Brantley L. Bryant, Ph.D.

Excellence in Teaching Award 2013
Sonoma State
Department of English

Brantley L. Bryant joined the faculty at Sonoma State University in 2007. He teaches courses that address the needs of students at all stages of their academic careers: first-year writing, general education courses, classical mythology, writing and research skills for the English major, and, his specialty, senior-level and master’s level courses on medieval literature. Bryant looks for ways that medieval literature can speak in an important and timely fashion to our seemingly modern crises and concerns.

Whether it’s having mythology students act out the oracle at Delphi, asking English majors to plan a new scholarly journal, or using chess pieces made up of random items to illustrate Ferdinand de Saussure’s insights on language, Bryant promotes a creative, fun, and interactive classroom community, even in the most advanced and rigorous courses.

Believing that a lively research life can enrich the classroom, he has published essays or book chapters on Chaucer and bureaucracy, late-medieval poetry and taxation, the pedagogy of the medieval literature classroom, the role of blogs in scholarship, and the “afterlife” of medieval history in popular culture.

Active at national and international conferences, Bryant has recently given invited lectures at UC Santa Barbara, UC Riverside, and the University of Wisconsin, Madison on his views about the interconnection of Internet culture, humor, enthusiasm, and the future of the study of medieval literature.

The Sonoma State University Excellence in Teaching Award is the sole award at Sonoma State that recognizes and rewards excellence in teaching